All posts tagged Tomas Maier

MILAN–It wouldn’t be fair to go picking best-of-Milan collections yet, what with it being Saturday with two full days of spring 2014 shows to follow here in this Italian fashion capital. Oh, what the heck: It would take a lot to knock Tomas Maier’s collection for Bottega Veneta off the winners’ podium (alongside Miuccia Prada’s collection for Prada).

It did look as though Mr. Maier, who is famously precise, had a fit of wild-haired madness in his atelier, grabbing gobs of buttons and strips of upholstery pleating and attaching them willy nilly to skirts and dresses. Why, some of the upholstery pleating still trailed seemingly unfinished from hemlines.

It’s such a shame that Bottega Veneta’s consistently extraordinary apparel is so thinly traded. The bags are the thing at this discrete label. But Mr. Maier has such a penchant for proportion that even a mad-hatter collection is perfectly balanced. A dress covered in buttons has the appearance of embroidery, while a trail of unattached pleating becomes a train.

Another memorable moment (so far) is the extraordinary studded black crocodile motorcycle jacket that Roberto Cavalli sent down his runway, in the midst of his always-sexy collection of ultra low-backed body-con dresses and hip-hugging jeans (with python pockets). Cavalli, never trendy, knows his ladies like to leave little (nothing) to the imagination.

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.